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Jeff Bezos Shares Video of 10,000-Year Clock Project (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared a video on Tuesday of his latest project: a giant clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. Buried deep in a west Texas mountain, the project is in partnership with San Francisco-based group The Long Now Foundation, which grew out of an idea for a 10,000 year clock that co-founder Danny Hillis proposed back in the '90s. Now, the 500-foot tall mechanical wonder is finally undergoing installation. Bezos is fronting the cash for the $42 million project, saying on the project's website that the clock is "designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking." The clock is powered by a large weight hanging on a gear, built out of materials durable enough to keep time for 10 millennia. Bezos isn't the only noteworthy name on the clock project. Musician Brian Eno and writers Kevin Kelly and Stewart Brand are also involved in the clock's construction. The team has spent the last few years creating parts for the clock and drilling through the mountain to store the pieces. You can read Bezos's account of that and view photos of the progress here.
When they find this in about 9900 years how many will think it means the world ends soon?
"How many millions of dollars does it take to build a clock that will keep time for 10,000 years?"
42
William George
That $42 million didn't just evaporate - it was spent on things. Probably including a lot of engineering, performed by mechanical engineers with salaries in the 60-80k USD range, and machinists with pay rates in the (yearly equivalent) 30-120k range. Also construction workers, similarly in the 30-120k range. And restaurant workers, truck drivers, titanium refiners, etc. All of whom are going to spend that money or invest it in relatively short-term family investments. All in all not a bad way of expanding the economy by some multiple of $42 million (eeeek! fractional reserves! call for the Bitcoin(tm)!) by merely using some otherwise useless markers out of Bezos' account.